The direct correlation between invention and inspiration is a notion that has robbed me of many a good night’s sleep. While the source of the former is normally bound to a person or an idea, the genesis of the latter appears to be more random, unexpected, and nuanced. Simply put, why is it so difficult to discover the best ideas?
In search of the perfect inspiring event, some would stare into the vast colossus of the ocean while others ponder invaluable works of art. But each is searching for a similar end: that spark. The “ah-ha!” moment, which causes stars to align and puzzle pieces to fall into place. For Shigeru Miyamoto, the inspiration behind the three-day cycle in Majora’s Mask is as equally strange as it is creative.
In a 2000 interview with Famitsu, Shigeru Miyamoto revealed the strange inspiration behind the game’s three-day cycle. With Aonuma hard at work creating the dungeons and story for the new game, Miyamoto decided to kick back and watch a movie at the theater. Armed with a strong affinity for international “B” films, the Zelda creator sought out an obscure German picture titled Run Lola Run.
In the first portion of the film, Lola is faced with a crisis: Her boyfriend, Manni, misplaces DM 100,000 while making a delivery. As Lola attempts to stop Manni from robbing a supermarket to recover the lost money, she is caught in the crossfire from the police and ultimately dies.
But instead of ending the movie at this point, the film restarts with the exact same sequence of events; Lola, however, retains the information from her first “playthrough.” In her second run, she is able to evade the gunfire and reach Manni, but later he is accidentally killed by a vehicle while crossing the street.
The film restarts one last time, and Lola decides to avoid the supermarket drama altogether. She does what any person desperate for a large sum of money would do and heads to the casino. After two rounds of placing all her money on roulette number 20, Lola earns enough to pay for Manni’s mistake. She runs out of the casino and arrives just in time as Manni hands his boss the original DM 100,000, which he had managed to recover. Exacerbated and confused as to how Manni recovered the missing money, Lola slowly walks away as Manni asks what she is holding in her hand.
As the credits rolled, Miyamoto realized that he had discovered his “ah-ha!” moment. Excited, he raced back to the office to tell Aonuma and the staff about the film. Although the plot for Majora’s Mask was already finished, the Zelda icon was convinced that the time loop in Run Lola Run would be the “secret sauce” that Nintendo needed to create a worthy sequel to Ocarina of Time.
After days of prodding from Miyamoto, Director Eiji Aonuma was finally compelled to experience the obscure German film. Needless to say, he was hooked. After watching the movie multiple times, Aonuma was convinced to incorporate a time loop into Majora’s Mask, and the rest is history. Although he originally intended for the game to have a seven-day time loop, Aonuma settled on a three-day sequence that coincidentally mirrored Run Lola Run, as Lola relives the events of the movie three times.
As I reflect upon my love for Majora’s Mask and Miyamoto’s chance encounter with an obscure work of art, my thoughts drift back to the original question: Why is it so difficult to discover the best ideas? I think I have my answer. Creative inspiration does not lie in the mainstream. Instead, it lies just out of reach on the fringes of the unorthodox. We need only the curiosity, imagination, and courage to look.
Be sure to check out the rest of our articles from Majora’s Month, our month-long celebration of Majora’s Mask’s 20th anniversary!
